Are Triangles a Better 'Divisor' of a Battlefield than Hexes?

Phil's Diagram of Triangular Tiling

Yesterday, I read this post by Phil and the subsequent discussion; they prompted some thoughts.  Phil reported on further developments here.

Triangles might work well if stands are placed on the points rather than in each triangle. Each point can be perceived as the centre of one hex and the point of 6 hexes and each hex overlaps 6 other hexes as illustrated in the next diagram.

Each hex overlaps 6 other hexes

A distance of 2 points for movement and distant-combat is equivalent to 1 hex so conversion of rules intended for hexes may be straight-forward.

Reasons why I like hexes are explained here. I've yet to work-out whether points of triangles and hexes that overlap are a useful construct and hope one day to make the time to experiment with it. 

One such experiment might involve a unit of 3 stands. For example, the unit could comfortably wheel around one hex as illustrated here.

A unit of three stands wheels to the right

A Terrain Selection Technique Applied to the Western Desert

A few months ago, Peter's rules, descriptions of campaign moves and after action reports posted at Grid Based Wargaming, inspired me to dig out some old WWII Western Desert 1:300 Heroics and Ros models. Peter had developed rules for battle from 'Tank on Tank' from Lock 'n Load Publishing.

Peter also developed rules for selection of terrain for each battle. Selection was influenced by the location of the battle on the campaign map.

In simplified summary, Peter shuffles 18 cards and deals 9 on a 3 by 3 grid. Each card represents one of 8 different terrain types. Rules determine battle objectives, which are terrain features.

The technique works well but during games where it had been used, I encountered an issue previously experienced with English Civil War (ECW) battles also fought on battlefields with relatively few hexes; namely, the edge of a battlefield can appear to be an artificial barrier. This can be a particular issue when an objective is close to the edge of a battlefield. Generally, to regard the the side of the battlefield to be adjacent to an abyss is inappropriate. For ECW, a river works as a good boundary but a river on both sides of a battlefield would be unlikely for every battle.

One solution I'm about to trial uses the same 18 cards as Peter to determine terrain in an inner grid of 9. Peter's technique is used to determine:

• The side of the battlefield occupied by each force
• Defender and attacker adjustments to the terrain
• Battle objectives
• Initial deployment of units

Quantities of each type of terrain 
card for inner and outer grid

This is supplemented by another set of 32 cards with 4 different terrain types. This deck is shuffled and cards are dealt to determine terrain immediately around the inner grid of 9 - this results in a 5 x 5 grid of terrain features. 

The quantities of terrain cards in each deck is shown in the adjacent table. The deck for the outer grid excludes potential objective cards and a road card because only one road is permitted on the battlefield.

An example of Peter's table-top
terrain for the Western Desert

Whilst Peter battles across  impressive 'cloth' table top terrain (see the adjacent picture, which was pinched from here), I aspire to a 3-dimensional modular terrain system with a look similar to that pictured below; however, with the experience documented here, I intend to use simplified 2-dimensional terrain for now; namely, interchangeable map modules. 

Illustrative look for aspirational terrain

First use of terrain cards with outer surround

An 'open' terrain module

Each terrain card represents a module of hexes. The reason I like hexes is explained here.

Each hex has the dimensions listed below; these are a comfortable fit with units mounted on stands of 30mm square: 

• Length of face - 31mm
• Distance between opposite faces - 52mm
• Distance between opposite angles - 62mm

All modules, bar the 'open' module, contain terrain features. Terrain modules are 4 hexes wide by 3 hexes deep; they measure approx 7 1/8" (182mm) wide by 6 1/8" (157mm) deep so a 5 x 5 grid is slightly less than 3' x 3' (1m x 1m) so occupies a reasonably small part of a table-top.

Shown below is the battlefield generated by the set of cards pictured above. Note that whilst the escarpment runs the width of the battlefield, each module has a pass so that there isn't only one pass to form a bottleneck between levels (such as Halfaya Pass).

Interim terrain modules that represent the battlefield
generated by the cards shown above

Seven types of interim terrain module - absent is 'road with village'

My gut feeling is that the quantities of cards should be tweaked. I suspect that the ratio of 'open' cards to the total quantity should be greater and the ratio of soft sand and wadi should be reduced but I intend to play a few battles with the current ratios to gain experience.

In Support of Hexes

Introduction

This post primarily provides observations in favour of battles fought on fields marked by hexagons and other shapes; eg, squares. My experience is with hexagons but similar arguments are likely to apply to demarcation with non-hexagonal shapes - other shapes are available. 

A Hexagon

Definitions

A symmetrical hexagon has 6 sides of equal length with an included angle of 120 degrees between adjacent sides. Effectively, a symmetrical hexagon is 6 equilateral triangles, each located with a point at one place, which is the centre of the hexagon.

Within a wargamers' lexicon, a hexagon is often referred to as a 'hex'; hence, 'hexes' for multiple hexagons.

Observations

• A hex on a battlefield may be thought of as the bulk of a circle, with some overlap with adjacent circles; hence, hexes provide a neat way to represent the vagaries of battlefield geography.
• Hexes ease measurement of distance for movement and for range for distant-combat (shot); hence, shorter game times and no arguments between players about distance.
• Without demarcation by hexes, some wargamers:
• May be 'stressed' by a feeling that measurement should be precise so as not to cheat either side: the mover from moving too little; and the opponent because the move has been excessive. Similar feelings associated with the precision of ranges for distant-combat weapons can also prevail. (From where I sit on the OCD spectrum, these observations are certainly true for me!)
• May consistently push their luck and measure too far; this can spoil the pleasure of the game for other wargamers.
• Hexes are a better representation of the generality of the battlefield; eg, in reality, a unit is more likely to exert control over a copse than on one corner of it - hexes provide a neat way to visualise Zones of Control (ZOC), which are discussed later.
• Unrealism of precise movement - in practice, the distance moved during a period of time by a unit is likely to vary due to parameters such as: command indecision/ change of mind; poor communication; going that is worse/ better than expected; and the condition of the unit. Use of hexes puts a unit in a fairly precise area without excessive precision - in engineering terms, hexes provide positional a range tolerance.

Hexes and Rules

Facing

Some rules state that at the end of a move, a unit must face an edge and others that a unit must face an angle. Both approaches have their merits.

Consumption of Movement Points

Often, each unit is assigned a quantity of Movement Points (MP) per game turn, to be consumed by movement across the boundary between 2 hexes; eg, movement from one clear hex to another consumes 1MP, whereas movement across a boundary with a hex that represents broken ground consumes 2MP.

Example Zone Of Control

Zone of Control

Some rules define the ZOC of a unit to be the 6 hexes adjacent to the hex occupied by the unit. Some rules state that once a unit enters the ZOC of another unit, then both units can move only in reaction to combat and not voluntarily under the control of its command chain; ie, the wargamer.

Conclusion

There are several benefits to the use of hexes to demarcate battlefields. Primarily, hexes can add realism, speed up game-play and add to the pleasure of the experience.

If you have any thoughts on the matter, then please comment below.